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Have you seen today's object yet? It's a small, gold llama and I expect that it will turn out to be one of our more popular objects in this third and final part of the series.

This hunch is based on the reaction to the previous animal objects. The swimming reindeer from the very first week remains one of the favourite objects on the site and there was a similar reaction to the North American otter pipe.

I think the llama is even more endearing than those two - and probably pips my favourite animal so far, which had been the Egyptian clay cattle. Take a look at that face; he looks amazingly pleased with himself, as if he's just been elected head of the pack.

Mind you, anyone tuning into the programme expecting to hear how this little llama was the cute plaything of some spoiled, royal child may have got a bit of a shock because this was one of the more grisly episodes.

I wasn't entirely prepared for the eye-witness account of an Inca sacrifice, involving pulling the viscera, in one long, bloody string, out of a live llama. Perhaps our llama is smiling because he's just heard that it's not going to be him.

It doesn't look like our next animal had a very happy ending either. Without wanting to spoil anything, it seems that Durer's rhinoceros - this Friday's object - was not a natural swimmer.

But I don't want to leave you on a down note. So, in anticipation of Friday, here's a just born at Whipsnade Zoo. It's the same species as the one in Durer's engraving: a one-horned Asian rhinoceros.

Aw... he looks completely confused at everything. Can I get one in solid gold, please?

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